Across the sea of space and time
by KorvaCthonic
Summary: I couldn't go on like this, couldn't just...fade away like a ghost. These were my memories, mine! I would fight this off and win! And then there was light, and a child wailing. Or: A lost soul is reincarnated into JoJo as Giorno's twin. SI/OC
1. Chapter 1

People who knew me said I was a shy, yet fierce woman at the same time. I would be one of those people who you never suspected would punch you in the face at the slightest provocation, transforming from a wallflower to a raging she-demon. This occured, often, when something like my favorite anime was on the line.

Split lips and black eyes were found on both sides after the ensuing chaos finally died down.

I stared at the screen of my laptop, finally finished with the finale of one of my latest obsessions and looking at the comments. One jerk claimed that it was entirely too unrealistic, too childish, not good. And so my patience, tense already from a taxing day at my job, snapped.

"No, you're wrong!" I muttered fiercely, fingers slamming down on keys with the force of an angry elephant. "It's good! You just don't have the brains to realize that!"

My fury only abated when a blazing pain suddenly erupted in the back of my head without warning like a long-dormant volcano. Fireworks burst behind my eyes, vision blurring and darkening. Limbs weakened, and my body fell limply from the chair, unable to move.

The dying rays of the setting sun was the last thing I saw before stygian consumed my consciousness.

* * *

I came to in a void, disoriented and confused. Black oppressed me from every angle.

The blackness was overwhelming, drowning me in its depths. It seemed to prod and tug at my mind like trying to untie a knot, but I stubbornly refused, clinging to myself with everything I had. I couldn't lose more. I'd already lost the little things, like the name of my first cat, a cute little tabby, or the face of one of my childhood friends.

The memories of my death (wait, I'd died?) whirled inside me, replaying over and over again like some kind of sick dance of the afterlife. My soul curled around them, uncomprehending and numb at the revelation.

That was unexpected. And far too sudden. I didn't get to say goodbye. I hadn't-

Then it yanked, jolting me, but I was unyielding and protected the core of my being, my most treasured memories and experiences. But despite my efforts, more tiny bits of my consciousness were shaved off and floated away. There went my first teacher's name. There went- Oh heavens that was my fifth birthday-

Panic set in, was swallowed and intensified, and I was desperately screaming. I knew I was screaming, even if I couldn't hear a trace of the echoing shrieks that escaped me into the dark abyss that enshrouded me. Eating me, piece by piece, like some lavish dinner.

I couldn't go on like this, couldn't just...fade away like a ghost. A rage began building somewhere within me, burning away at the darkness like a small star and thwarting any further attempts on my mind. It was my hope, my memories, my very soul. I would fight, and I would win.

_And I would live to see another sunrise!_

The star erupted into a supernova.

And then there was a great wail, like that of a child, and I was thrust into the light. Dazed, a kaleidoscope of lights blurred around me like a haphazard disco rave, and there was a shrill female scream hitting the ceiling.

I was somewhere else.

A huge pressure squeezed on me and then everything was cold, and I wanted to be warm again, and then there was a second source of lights and sounds and blurry sensations, and it was too much. I cried and shrieked, but I was also standing in shock at the scene of a bright hospital room containing an army of medical personnel and an Asian woman heaving for air on the bed.

Not warm, want warm- I pressed midnight blue hands against the sides of my head where ears should have been, but instead felt only smooth, rounded circles, attempting to drown out the immature thoughts that I somehow instinctively knew were also mine. My eyes squeezed shut, quivering and confused.

I was supposed to be dead. _But I'm not._

I was in two places at once. Baby me being handled by an assortment of doctors, and adult me stuffed into something else in the same room, something apparently invisible and intangible to the medical staff. Another piercing cry hit the ceiling of the white room, and I opened my eyes back up in time to see another baby force its way out of the womb.

The next five minutes were spent desperately dry-heaving in the corner, my mind now scarred for this apparent new life. Hah, no. I wasn't nearly that squeamish. But seriously, someone should invent brain bleach.

* * *

I blocked out another wave of immature emotions radiating from the baby burbling in front of me, retreating into my own head to cradle my fragile thoughts.

Everything felt numb. My gaze dropped to the navy blue hands that quivered before me. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my fraying nerves. Okay. What did I know about my situation?

The spiritual form I inhabited now was not my own body. That much was made abundantly clear by the navy blue and lavender purple coloration of it, along with abnormalities like the silver stars emblazoned on my limbs and chest, or the loincloth that covered the fact that I had no privates anymore.

Well, at least periods couldn't get the jump on me ever again.

A high pitched giggle escaped me, which quickly broke down into a keening cry that I cut off with a shaking hand, tears pricking at my eyes. This was my un-life now, huh? Doomed to go unseen by anyone, unable to even eavesdrop on conversations since they were in Japanese.

A hand rose, then slapped me hard across the cheek, leaving a quickly fading stinging sensation in its wake. I blinked hard, breathed deeply, and lowered the limb to glower fiercely at it.

I was better than this, for Pete's sake! I was Jen Nasino, the woman who had once beaten up five boys who dared to diss my friend! The thing in the corner of your eye that creeped you out! The Boogeywoman in the closet at night! The-

Okay, maybe I was getting a bit carried away with this. But I did not mope around like a sad cat lady!

My lip quivered a little at the thought of Lucy and Lisa. Hopefully someone found them before my body started rotting. For some reason, the word hypocrite flashed through my mind.

* * *

Baby me and the twin brother were now in a ward of other babies, and I was forcibly dragged along by what felt like a tether at least five meters long. It was downright irritating that I couldn't go anywhere freely anymore. Stupid botched reincarnation. I probably wouldn't be in this mess if it'd actually worked like it was supposed to, wiping my memories and leaving a giggling, barfing baby girl with no clue of her past life in my place.

As far as I could tell, something had tried to do just that, but I'd fought it off somehow. And with nowhere for those not-erased memories to go, they'd sort of...manifested in this weird form I had now. Because if they tried to stay inside my baby-self's head, it would probably explode. Infants were not made to carry that much information to start with.

I guess I should be more grateful that I was still, y'know, me, but it was a little hard when you were a spirit no one could see and metaphorically dying of boredom.

I sighed heavily, floating around my range to look at the twins before me. Baby me was a light brunette, a tiny wisp of hair atop her head with glittering emerald eyes set beneath. My brother had darker hair and sea green eyes, and both of them were clearly Japanese. Or at least Asian.

Baby me- I really wished I knew my own new name- burbled and set her eyes on me as I hung above. She wriggled and jiggled, thinking pretty, and the ice of my heart melted somewhat. The brother slept softly next to her, and they both looked positively adorable.

But don't be fooled by the impressive guise.

He was a relatively quiet baby at times, but would often cry for no apparent reason at all. That was positively irritating to deal with since I had no way of knowing what he wanted or needed most of the time, and often had no way to get the stuff even if I did know.

As for my baby-self? She was...decently behaved, aside from screeching like a banshee, gumming on my fingers, and generally shooting random thoughts into my brain if I wasn't blocking it off.

Babies could just be a royal pain sometimes.

In my past life, infants were just a thing that I'd never had to deal with. No younger siblings, just the only child in an average family. And thus, I never learned the ways of motherhood, and hadn't wanted to. Other people could deal with bringing up the next generation, and I could deal with my job. Be a productive member of society and all.

But that attitude may be changing in the future. I never knew just how...cute babies could be when they were in a good mood. Especially when it came to tickling and playing with them. They were still little fleshy gremlins when they wanted to be, though. Heh.

Cats were where it was at, though. So fluffy and memeable.

Tiny me, your duty henceforth is to prove me wrong!

Anyway, something interesting was that the twin boy was able to track my movements when his eyes became more developed, clearly able to see me even when no one else besides baby me could. At times like this, a look in his eyes caught me off guard, an intense and wisened gaze that seemed to speak of far more years than a child should have, only to flash back to an innocent stare on a dime.

He was one weird kid, that one, but it wasn't like I had any room to talk.

* * *

I never saw my new mother again after our birth. Only nurses and doctors attended to me, my twin and the surrounding children, so maybe we were orphans or something? Frustration abounded when I remembered that everyone muttered and spoke Japanese, so no knowing for sure. I only really knew a few phrases and stuff from absorbing so much anime over the course of my previous life.

Thankfully, I'd deciphered enough muttered Japanese to figure out my name: Haruka. And maybe my twin's too? It tended to be a little hard on his end since a lot of the workers mangled it or something, cooing stuff like "Runo-kun" or "Haru-chan". So Haruno, probably.

We'd been eventually transferred to what appeared to be an underfunded, overworked and understaffed orphanage. Yay, officially orphans! Let the female who birthed us get a mother-of-the-year award for worst performance yet!

A bolt of irritation shot through me at the woman who was supposed to have been my mother. Couldn't own up to having two children, so she chucked them to the government and ran. What's worse is that I'd read somewhere that Japan doesn't exactly have the best care system for orphanages, kids becoming pariahs when they eventually grew up due to a lack of family, or even if they were adopted.

Queen Bee-otch of Bee-otch Land. Buzz. Smother her in milk and honey and let nature do the rest of the work. Tch.

Okay, maybe I wasn't that evil, but I was currently in the sourest of moods since we were taken here. Three months into my new life, no one to talk to, and I swear if that freaking child didn't stop tugging on my younger self's hair I was going to LOSE it.

Playtime was soooo fun. Sarcasm completely intended.

Putting a bunch of babies in a spare room, setting toys in front of them, and then sticking a grand total of one person in there to watch them all was a recipe for disaster. Toddlers fought over every toy, book or object they could get their hands on, gumming on everything if they were teething.

That tiny black haired brat yanked again, my younger self cried, and my patience went over the edge like a morbidly obese man barreling off of Niagara Falls. A soft punt with the tip of my foot satisfied my urge for violence at the cost of my conscience, which was now screaming at me like the now blubbering brat that tipped onto his side.

Don't react, and you're a pansy. Do something about it and you're the most evil scum on the face of the earth.

I cringed, then awkwardly gave the kid a pat on the head. A bewildered look came onto the baby's face, and because it was something new and he couldn't see it, that meant it was bad. So more blubbering occured, and then Haruka joined in for a second round of shrieking.

As all this went down, my brother just watched. I ignored the oddly inquisitive look that flashed across Haruno's face for the briefest instant.

* * *

Six months in, and things were suddenly turned on their head. I'd been doing my usual hobby of people watching (Not much else to do when you're basically a shackled spirit) when a familiar figure composed of gold and purple popped out of nowhere.

What. The. Actual. Holy. _Crap_.

My whole body froze, eyes widening. Behind me, Haruka's face reddened and began crying, fear clenching my chest with every shriek she made. This wasn't possible. And yet...

Before me stood that impossibility. Purple ladybug emblems decorated the limbs, the same color glittering in robotic eyes that stared right at me. Gold crested the skin and engraved delicate shapes into a mushroom like protrusion set on the skull. Tiny white wings sprouted from the shoulders. This was...a _Stand_.

More specifically, the Stand of one Giorno Giovanna, Gold Experience. It was fictional.

On the other hand, this whole reincarnation spirit BS had happened, and that was pretty much real. I gulped down a sudden knot in my throat. So I must be residing in my Stand. And my brother...was Haruno Shiobana. Giorno Giovanna.

Gold Experience simply stared at me, glassy eyes unblinking and unmoving. That was so friggin creepy, like on the level of a possessed doll kind of creepiness going up your spine. I tensed, breath hitching and wearily gazing back, waiting for it to make a move.

In the corner of my eye, Haruka had finally died down with her cries, instead staring at the other Stand with wide green eyes.

And then its lips parted, and unintelligible, but refined sounding Italian spewed out. I stared, unsure what to do. Italian had been my mother's native language, but she'd never bothered teaching me. I hadn't seen the usefulness of it either at the time, but looking back now, dang I'd been an idiot.

G.E.'s brow seemed to furrow, and then Japanese came forth. I tilted my head, expression twisting in confusion and my own brows meeting. Wait. Something was off about this.

"Um," I croaked out, still bewildered, "you might wanna try English next?"

He let out a short sigh, then heavily accented English made its way to my ears. "I apologize. I was unsure as to what language you spoke."

A nervous chuckle escaped me. "Well, not everybody's trilingual. It's a valid mistake."

A slight smile graced G.E.'s face. "I suppose. You are Haruka, then?"

I shrugged, my shoulders losing some tension, but not fool enough to completely let my guard down. Clearly he knew who I was, or at least supposed to be in this life. Which meant he'd been listening in without manifesting for a while.

"I guess in this life. Before, I was Jennifer Nasino." My eyes narrowed, trying to pierce the mask of indifference on his face. "You're Haruno?"

My eyes flicked over to his baby form, who was currently gumming on my younger self's arm, which sent a weird, tingly phantom feeling up mine. Hard to believe the cute little gremlin there could become one of the most terrifying JoJos out there. "Definitely didn't peg you as the polite type."

"I generally prefer to be, though it hasn't seen much use as of late." The golden Stand's gaze seemed to move towards his own baby self. "'Haruno' was once my name, but I've gone by Giorno Giovanna since."

So. It was him. That explained the adult Stand.

A beat passed between us, each staring and seemingly daring the other to ask the inevitable question: 'How are you here?'

I rolled my eyes and took the dive, turning away so he couldn't see the emotions roiling up to the surface. "I died, alright?"

The blazing feeling of eyes burning into my back was ignored. "It was in the wussiest way possible, too. I was at home, just doing stuff, when I had a stroke or something and keeled over." A bitter laugh welled up inside me. "Stupid, right?"

But it had been terrifying in reality. Your body just deciding to stop working one moment, and then you were gone just like that. I was gone just like that. My hands were trembling, eyes squinted shut with a surge of repressed grief that had finally come after so long.

After so long with no one to talk to, with me furiously trying to find something else to occupy my attention so I wouldn't break down like a sissy, like I'd nearly done at the beginning of this whole mess. It took all my flimsy concentration to make sure my whirlwind of emotions wouldn't bleed over into Haruka, and even then I could hear her begin to sniffle.

I blinked my eyes open again, only to realize everything was blurry. Was I crying? Could Stands cry? The thought was abruptly cut off with a hand touching my shoulder, startling me to look back at the only other Stand.

Giorno abruptly curled his arms around my torso, mumbling, "Mi dispiace, so sorry."

And then I simply shattered, a wail wrenching from my chest and tears flowing. This was all so messed up. A dead woman cradled in the arms of a time traveling anime mafia boss, who also happened to be my brother now. And that was only the cherry on top of the sundae, what with a century old stripper vampire who had stolen his adoptive brother's body as our progenitor.

A teary giggle escaped me at the thought. Bloody Bodystealer McBlondie, aka Dio. Which made me...Dio's daughter. My face twisted. No. Not Dio, Johnathan Joestar was the real father here.

But enough of that. I was feeling drowsy now, warm in the embrace of my brother and, looking over at the twins, Haruka and Haruno were too. A smile twisted my lips at the last words Giorno muttered to me before I drifted off.

"Goodnight, sister."


	2. Chapter 2

There were few things that phased the mafia don of Passione these days. Stands had by and far sapped his ability to be surprised by the large majority of bizarre happenings around him, but this...this situation was concerning. And confusing.

What made Giorno Giovanna so was the fact that he was now residing inside of his baby self.

Ignoring the strange events he remembered prior to this, there was no explanation for how this could be happening. Then again, it could be some kind of Stand ability that reverted his age or something...but that didn't seem likely, for a multitude of reasons. Mainly for the fact that his baby self was communicating with him via thought.

_Cold! Hungry!_ The child wailed, writhing and chilled.

It was Giorno, but not at the same time. It...was Haruno. A him without his adult memories.

_Then where am I?_ He wondered, but was quickly distracted by the sight of a midnight blue woman hovering above Haruno, curiosity glimmering in star pupiled eyes.

A Stand, clearly, but whose? A high pitched wail echoed into his left ear, making Giorno subconsciously cringe and Haruno join in on the chorus. A twin. He somehow had a twin with a fully matured Stand of their own, and judging by the way he could almost flex his way out of the baby Haruno's body with Gold Experience, Giorno did as well.

He felt his own curiosity pique. How did this happen? How had they ended up in their Stands? Judging by the maturity, the User was mentally an adult, so what kind of person were they?

Some observation was needed.

Haruka, Giorno decided, was a good person. If easily irritated and prone to an explosive temper.

It showed in the facial features and body language that she was prone to using, especially since she was so expressive and unguarded. Cringing at noisy children, the child tugging on her hair incident, and her visible regret when she _did _lash out unintentionally were only a small portion of the things that convinced him of this.

Doing the occasional diaper when no one else was looking helped her case, of course, though that may have only been to quiet one of the twins down.

But when not observing and compiling a file on his new sister, the mafia don was...less than okay. It began with a sobering realization that if he were somehow stranded back in time, Giorno's friends were gone. The Trish that had finally gotten with Mista, after such a long period of pining? Now just a squalling baby not unlike Haruno. Mista would be in the same boat.

The only friends he had ever had were now swept away by the winds of time, reduced to naught but the memories Giorno Giovanna carried with him. A small urge to cry out at the unfairness of it all tugged at his heart. But that was only something Haruno did. It was useless to cry.

The only consolation was the fact that those that had died in the struggle against Diavolo were alive once more. Bucellati was still alive, not a literal dead man walking. Narancia and Abbacchio breathing, not done in by a Stand attack or...or _punctured completely through in Giorno's own body and those eyes unseeing and the glimmer of Narancia's Iife flickered out like a candle, Giorno being __**too late, too late, always too late to save them like the utter useless, useless USELESS scum he is**_-

And his inner turmoil bled over to Haruno, and then the child began to cry again. He forced the well of negative emotions down, down down and instead sent the baby a wave of calm over their link. It worked, the wails dying down into sniffles and teary eyes instead.

It was useless to think about the past now. The only thing Giorno could do was learn from it and never repeat the same mistakes again. His mask was steeled, his will unwavering and determination burning.

* * *

The reveal of himself had gone ...less than smoothly. Giorno hadn't anticipated the idea that his sister had _died_ in order to get where she was now, although now it seemed like a fairly obvious thing in retrospect.

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Jen hung limply in his arms, deep in slumber. An American by her accent, and a reincarnated soul. At least that was an explanation for the fully matured Stand, with it in both their cases serving as a repository for their memories until the brains of the child selves grew enough to house them.

But something was incredibly off about her reaction to Giorno's reveal. When Gold Experience appeared, Jen had _recognized_ the Stand, a look of shock and horror crossing her face before settling on tentative disbelief and weariness. How could she have come across him before? She knew no Italian, and so had probably never been to Italy, and Giorno had never set foot on the American continent.

It was all very odd, but he chose to let it go for now. At the moment, a fragile new sibling of his needed support, and Giorno was loathe not to do it. A childhood with a neglectful mother had ensured that he knew what loneliness and terror felt like, and he wouldn't force another good soul to go through something like that.

Even more, anyway, given that Jen had been alone the past months. A wave of guilt threaded through him. That action probably could have been better thought out.

Eyelashes fluttered open as Giorno ruminated on his thoughts, star marked pupils blinking as they met the hard robotic ones of his Stand. Her eyes widened and she squawked, backing away from him in a hurry until she was a respectable distance.

"Eh…?" She muttered in disbelief, before deflating as the woman seemed to remember. "Oh, right. Yeah. That happened."

He nodded. "It did. And I am sorry for causing you distress like that. I apologize."

"It's...it's okay?" Jen spoke softly, but then shook her head. "No. It's not." She curled in on herself, whispering. "I'm not okay."

She was withdrawing like a purple and blue hermit crab into its shell, trembling lightly. Truth be told, Giorno felt a tad awkward in situations like this. He'd never really comforted other people, only observed the way others would do it. Earlier had been out of impulse, if nothing else.

But she was still shrinking in on herself, so he reluctantly brought his arms around Jen again. She noticeably stiffened at the touch, but didn't move away again, so he supposed that was as good as he could get right now.

"Signora, me dispiace," he muttered again.

His suspicions could be let go for now. Right now what Jen presumably needed was a show of trust, given that she'd made herself so vulnerable for the sake of it.

"I suppose I should share something of my own, sister." Giorno paused for a brief moment on that word. He'd never thought he'd ever have a sibling. "I don't know how I came to be here, to be honest. The events prior to this may have had a hand in it, however."

She stilled in his arms, clearly listening intently.

"Time was seeming to accelerate, destroying anything that wasn't alive…"

_...The Passione headquarters was being rapidly worn away with the passage of sped up time, wood rotting and stone eroding. Giorno could only watch in barely controlled horror as the Earth itself began to age without the human race, approaching the point of total decay. His breath hitched, clothes wearing away as everything was just __**gone**__..._

_But the one thing that seemed unaffected was the golden Arrowhead gripped tightly in his pale fist. The insect engraving glinted maniacally in the light of the sun, the star itself zipping across the sky every couple of seconds like a crazed racer._

_Giorno Giovanna knew what he must do. He called up Gold Experience, and without another thought, thrust the tip into the Stand. A brief flash, and then the Requiem Stand gazed down at the devastation wrought upon the planet._

_The air was rapidly dwindling. "Do something...please!" He commanded, breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps._

_It looked back at the Stand User with an impassive stare, gestured, and then there was a blinding white light consuming Giorno…_

"...and then my Stand used an ability, but I don't know what the effects were, beyond this."

And he hoped to never need it again. One could only take so much of needing to watch everyone in your life forget about you.

Giorno looked back down at his sister, suspicions returning full force as an expression of distinct _familiarity_ crossed her face, starry pupils shrinking with a hint of fear. Perhaps she'd experienced the same before her untimely demise?

But no, she'd made absolutely clear that nothing was off about her death in that way. It was something more.

"Pucci," Jen muttered absently, eyes wide and unseeing. "This is his fault."

The mafia don abruptly backed away, fists raised and posture tensing. "What do you know?" He quietly demanded, an undercurrent of anger rippling just below the surface.

She straightened up to look Giorno dead in the eyes. "Enrico Pucci. A Stand User, fanatic follower of the late Dio, and someone who wanted to achieve 'heaven'. A person, who through unorthodox means, managed to evolve their stand to the point where it could accelerate time itself, bringing about a new universe, a 'heaven', by accelerating the old one to the point where it collapsed."

His mind blanked, then kicked into high gear as Giorno slumped with a sigh. "Of course if was a Stand. But how do you know this?" He wondered out loud, slight frustration coloring his words.

A grimace crossed her face. "Do you know the concept of the multiverse theory? And it has everything to do with this."

"Multiple universes that exist at the same time, yes."

"Well…" Jen paused for a moment. "Take a novel for instance. In this reality, it may just be fiction, nothing special beyond a story. But somewhere out there in the multiverse, that concept exists as its own separate world, perhaps with this universe existing as a sort of story in that one."

A realization began niggling at the edges of his mind, but Giorno pushed it aside to focus on the conversation. "So fiction is realized as its own reality among all the possibilities of universes?"

"Exactly." At this, the Stand User took a deep breath to undoubtedly calm her jittery nerves. He could see her blue hands shaking from the stress. "And I...read about Pucci in a Japanese manga. Before I died."

Everything seemed to stop abruptly, like time itself was frozen. The realization was on the tip of his tongue now, and then it finally slipped free of its confines. "This world was a manga in yours. That was how you recognized my Stand."

Jennifer Nasino, traveler from another universe, choked slightly on her words, lowering her head to hide. "Yes."

"Alright." So they both had knowledge of the future, although hers may be more complete than Giorno's. His mind kicked into overdrive, plans whirling about in his skull. "First of all-"

* * *

"-we need to wait until our memories are able to assimilate into our bodies. We can't do anything much until then."

My head jolted back up to stare at the gold and violet Stand, no sign of emotional distress or anything in his glassy purple eyes. "Wait!" I babbled, thrown off completely by his behavior. "You're not concerned at _all_ that some random person knows so much about you?"

"Not particularly. I don't believe you would, or _could_ use any of that against me. We are in the past, and a great majority of the things you hold knowledge of are undoubtedly in the future."

I gaped, dumbfounded at his logic. "But, but-" I sputtered.

"In addition," he raised a finger from the hug we'd been locked in, "I don't believe that you would do something like that. You are a good person, Jennifer."

I'd never claimed to be good. Heck, I felt like I was sometimes one of the _furthest _things from that, with my tendency to hurt people in a fit of rage. But to be hearing something like this from one of my own favorite characters, however, made it seem more real instead of a distant concept sometimes applied to people. And Giorno meant it too, as I could see the sincerity reflected from his Stand's violet eyes.

My expression collapsed into a small, defeated smile. "How can I argue against that?"

* * *

The orphanage nursery was noisy as usual, babies wailing in the middle of the night for sustenance or in the middle of the day and all that jazz. Just the same old song and dance as always. But now, there was the addition of Giorno Giovanna to distract me. Namely, with stuff like learning Japanese.

"So that word means 'to cry'?" I muttered, trying to parse out the meanings of the words Giorno was teaching me today.

Workers and volunteers busily swarmed about us this morning, attending to various kids. I was trying my hardest to focus on the lesson, but my patience was close to snapping with the wailing of random balls of human infant.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance as the two toddlers below us began to babble incoherently as they listened to us. Haruka's chubby face was splayed wide in a funny smile, spouting a mangled version of the word I was trying to learn.

"_Nnana-uu," _she burbled happily, slapping her palms against a Haruno that shrieked incoherently in response.

"Yes, but _naku_ is only one of many synonyms," Giorno admitted, crossing his legs midair. "I left Japan a while before I was able to learn much more, and I am admittedly very rusty even with what I know."

"Eeee!"

I grunted, glaring down at the noisy baby duo below us. "Sometimes I can't believe that tiny kid down there grows up to be you, Giorno."

The baby Haruno only looked back up at us with seafoam eyes, giving a gummy smile and shifting the tuft of gold atop his head. That had been a surprise, newly blonde locks coming in seemingly overnight after Giorno popped out, confusing anyone who came in the next day.

"Back to the lesson," he chided, making me give a sheepish smile. "Mother is sometimes referred to as _mama _and father _papa, _so there isn't a great difference between English and Japanese in some respects."

I blinked at that. "What about the terms _okaa-san _or _otou-san_? Aren't those some of the more common ways?"

Giorno took his turn to blink, then laughed lightly. "I may have forgotten those. My family wasn't especially formal, and when I was young we shifted more towards Italian before moving."

A slight frown curled my lips. I'd nearly forgotten that he hadn't had an especially nice childhood. Better not bring that up. But then my stupid mouth decided to open up and ask, "What about your biological father? Dio? What would you have called him?"

Stupid, stupid stupid! Baka idiot insensitive Jen! Giorno seemed startled at the topic, and of course he would be, I just brought up his freaking vampire dad. Who was also _my_ vampire dad by default, but let's not think on that too hard.

"No, sorry, dumb question!" I squeaked, cringing and hiding my face.

There was nothing I heard aside from the burbling of babies and the muttered Japanese of the workers about us. Slowly, I parted my hands to glance at the other Stand User. He had a contemplative look on his face, no rage induced or anything.

"You know of my real father then?" The mafia don asked softly.

"Yes…?" I offered meekly. "I mean, he was a pretty big deal in the stories in my world. You wanna know about it?"

An almost hungry look entered his eyes. "Please. Be it good or bad, I have to hear this."

I suppose he would be, after going his whole original life without the knowledge of his own father. Family was something Italians were all over, priding themselves in their bloodlines and big families. Growing up in a place like that without such would've been even more stigmatizing, probably.

"This'll take a while, just warning you. At any rate, Dio Brando was the adoptive brother of Jonathan Joestar and stuff. The real shocking thing about him though, was that he was a vampire from the 19th century...


	3. Chapter 3

"Johnathan Joestar seems like he was a pretty polite gentleman," Giorno commented partway through.

"Believe me, he was, and basically the boyscout of the Joestar clan. But then Dio had the bright idea to go and shove his poor dog into an incinerator-"

* * *

"Wait. There's a power like that?"

"Well, yeah. But magical sunlight breathing punches that only a few can harness isn't really super useful against stuff other than vampires or zombies-"

* * *

"And then Dio was all like 'Wryyyy, imma blow your face off with my Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!'- and yes, that was literally what they were called- and then Dio's head flew away-"

* * *

"What. His head did what?"

"I know, right? His head went all tentacle monster mode and was like 'No Johnathan, your body will be mine!' and stole the body of Johnathan Joestar whilst simultaneously hiding in a second coffin from the explosion somehow. And then was trapped at the bottom of the ocean for a hundred years before getting pulled up, eating a couple women and inadvertently knocking up one that would birth us. And no, I don't know how to feel about it either."

"This...is a very strange universe we live in."

"Yup! You could call every Joestar's life...a bizarre adventure!"

Silence.

"Yeah, that was bad."

* * *

"But what happened to Joseph Joestar?"

"Oh, that was fun to watch. First of all there were super ripped alien Aztec vampires that were so handsome, they would probably change your orientation- dang it!"

"What?"

"I can't show you the awesome dubstep that played with it!"

* * *

"And so Stroheim came back as a cyborg nazi, and possibly even more patriotic than before and filled to the brim with guns and enough lasers to make a rave-"

* * *

"Caesar fought with bubbles. Pretty unorthodox, yeah. But Kars had the most epic of powers: turning his hand into a rabid vampire squirrel."

"You know, I should probably feel more surprised about this, but I'm not."

* * *

"And then Joseph ended up crashing his own funeral, living out his days until in 1988 Dio resurfaced as a timestopping, metrosexual and ambiguously gay vampire."

"...hm. I may have inherited a bit of his fashion sense."

"Truly, the best thing you could've gotten next to the Joestar genes."

* * *

"Yadda yadda, journey across the world to Egypt with Jotaro, Stands harassing them at every turn, some people dying in the end except for the Joestars and Polnareff-"

"...Polnareff? He was with them?"

"Oh yeah, you know him, don't you? Yup, he was. But the big fight with Dio? There was lots of time stopping, knives, and road rollers involved, until he somehow died by getting punched in the leg. Really hard."

"How-?"

"Really, really hard."

* * *

"I'm sensing a pattern here."

"Oh? Please, enlighten the peanut gallery, mafia don."

"So Dio could stop time, there was this serial killer with the ability to rewind time, Diavolo could erase time, and Pucci accelerated time."

"Huh. The universe seems to have a thing for lobbing overpowered Stand users at the Joestar line, doesn't it? Or murdering literally any dog that they come into contact with. Poor Iggy."

* * *

"...and that's about it!" I finally concluded with a relieved huff.

It had taken a few hours, but Giorno was finally caught up. To be honest, the poor guy looked pretty dazed by the rundown I'd given him, shattering all his preconceived assumptions about what his father(s) had been like.

It was probably a little traumatizing, knowing your progenitor was a century old vampire bodysnatcher that raved on about his own importance to a ridiculous degree.

I felt kind of bad for being the bearer of bad news (hah, alliteration), but it had to be done. But now, with all said and done, what were we going to do? About the future. Nothing to be done about our sperm donor, unfortunately, at the moment.

"Do you have any goals for the future anymore?" I suddenly asked out loud. "You had your whole stint with Passione, but do you wanna do the same thing all over again?"

Suddenly, Giorno looked lost. "I...don't know. I still want to dethrone Diavolo again. That has to happen so he doesn't get his hands on the Requiem Arrowhead. But…"

"...to do that would risk your friend's lives all over again, right?" I finished softly. "I agree. I also have people I want to protect, or prevent from dying." I nudged his shoulder meaningfully.

His lips turned up in a shaky smile. "I suppose. But besides that, and preventing the disastrous Made in Heaven from occurring, I'm unsure what to do for once. With you here, and us in an orphanage, things are already derailed from the original timeline."

My own lips twitched into a smirk. "I guess that's what we'll do then. Since things are already wonky, why not just keep going? Just use what we've learned as guidelines, and make our own path. Our own 'heaven, and try our best to keep those we love safe'."

In other words, screw fate because that sort of thing was complete and utter BS. And screw Pucci, Made in Heaven and the horse it rode on.

* * *

The long shadows and silence of the night crawled across the nursery, only broken up by the occasional sniffling of children mid-dream. The twins had been moved to an older ward of kids, all toddlers, and so not many would wake up in the middle of the night screaming for food or diaper changes. This made the middle of the night a perfect opportunity to practice some specific things.

Namely, my Stand abilities.

When I finally had this fairly obvious thing pointed out by my resident time traveling mafia don, I was understandably sheepish and asked for help unlocking my ability. But this wasn't quite what I had in mind for training out my innate superpower.

An intense stare burned into the wooden block sitting innocently in the floor. I willed something to happen. Burst into flames! Freeze into ice! Something freaking occur, for the love of all things food in this miserable world!

Just like the last five times, nothing did. My eyes twitched.

"Are you sure that this will help?" I mumbled, eyes narrowing and threatening to burn a hole into my target.

From my periphery, Giorno shrugged helplessly. "Some Stand abilities are obvious from the outset, but some require time or thought to be made clear. Focusing on things helped in my case."

I glowered more fiercely than before, a scowl twisting my features. "Focus that doesn't seem to be doing anything."

"Perhaps…" In between blinks, I caught a glimpse of a golden arm whipping away as the block changed into a giant stag beetle, writhing and squirming towards me. The black chitin of its exoskeleton glimmered menacingly in the low light.

My eyes went wide. It skittered closer, mandibles flexing. A high pitched shriek escaped me, although I would never admit it. I was a woman, not a little girl!

Something within me clicked, my fingers snapped without me thinking, and then the air distorted around the bug, crushing it and compacting it down to size. Fluids tried to escape, but were forced back down into an orb of organic gloop that used to be a beetle. I stared, the distortion rippling back out of existence with a light fwoom of displaced air, and dropping a shiny, dense bead in its place on the floor.

Did I just do that? I glanced down at my hands, power thrumming through my fingertips and making them tingle slightly. A grin threatened to split my face.

"Me dispiace, signora. I guess that it was just a matter of motivation," my golden sibling chuckled beside me. "Impressive display."

I ignored him, instead eagerly grabbing at another block and tossing it into the air. My fingers connected in another snap, and this time I could tell that I had a specific range that the effect could be applied to, not just a small bubble. The effects were more than just compressing things.

The wood of the block was stretched out like taffy midair in the distortion, winding until it was a good foot long. My lips pressed against each other firmly, deep in thought. The very light that passed through the distortions was warped, like…

"Like space was bending and warping…" I concluded, a rush of glee hardly able to be contained.

I quickly found that my free range of big effects was limited to my five meter range. Two smaller bubbles, each about 10 cm in diameter, could be split off for a ranged option beyond that, but disappointingly, that wasn't able to be used in tandem with my close range. It was either one or the other, to my chagrin.

The bubbles of space could theoretically be used to shred anything in their path with great speed, potentially destroying vital organs from a distance, or other kinds of obstacles. There was one other thing I was eager to try, though. Wormholes, the theoretical holes punched straight through space time to connect two different areas.

That grin of mine was no longer suppressed as the two bubbles formed again, one bobbing a good distance away and the other nearby. They warped until they connected with an inaudible click that rang through my mind.

Giorno looked on in curiosity, clearly wondering if this would even work.

Another helpless block was sacrificed for the sake of whatever pseudo science Stands abided by, tumbling into the churning abyss of the bubble. And then, a distinct clack sounded when it hit the wooden flooring below the other one.

I swallowed the girly giggle that wanted to well up. My hand entered the one before me, popping out at the end of the other bubble. The blue fingers wiggled in the darkness, a good meter away from the edge of my range.

With all the star imagery and space abilities, I guess you could call me...a Cosmic Girl!

Occasionally, I would notice a particular person come in over the days of our life at the orphanage. It was a woman who wasn't at all Japanese in appearance, with her long blonde locks and dazzling green eyes. She seemed a bit familiar somehow, like in the way you might almost recognize a celebrity, but there were small things off.

She always came in with a bright smile, constantly chattering and helping in our ward of kids. The woman cooed and built blocks with my younger self at the moment, playing the part of baby supervisor for today.

I squinted hard at her, the nagging feeling in the back of my head growing to a burning need to know exactly who this was. "Hey, Giorno, do you know who this lady is?" I finally muttered to my sibling.

The mafia don was occupied with Haruno at the moment, gently stroking his hair in a way that I thought might be a little addictive with how he could also feel the sensation. Gold Experience's head snapped up at my question, pausing.

"I've heard people calling her Kujo Seiko. I don't know much beyond that."

My eye twitched, wondering how I had missed something like that. Maybe I was less perceptive than I thought.

At any rate, Kujo Seiko. The surname was a pointer towards Jotaro's family, but it could easily be some other Kujo or something. But that didn't fit with the foreign looks the woman had about her, with the distinctly European facial features she carried. At any rate, if she was related to Jotaro, I didn't recall any Seiko-

My eye twitched more violently, the urge to facepalm becoming stronger every second when I remembered that the name Seiko was a nickname for Holly. Holly Kujo, foreigner to Japan, but married into the country to Sadao Kujo and with the exact hair and eye coloration of this woman.

I blanched, suddenly wondering if Pucci's 'gravity' ideology was screwing with me. It would explain being born as a twin to Giorno and something like this happening besides pure chance. But again, screw that.

"How did I not notice this!" I shrieked incoherently in frustration, turning back to my brother and gesturing wildly. "That woman is Holly Kujo, part of the Joestar bloodline! We gotta do something to make her take us home with her!"

Giorno hummed in acknowledgement, thinking. "If that is the case, then I believe I have a simple solution to our predicament."

My brows raised. "Then please, enlighten me. Your plan?"

He tapped his left shoulder. "All those of Joestar blood have the star marking, correct? And so if one of our younger selves coincidentally shows it off..."

"...Holly will notice, and being the bleeding heart she is, will want to adopt." I grinned. "I like it."

And so it was set in motion just the next day. It was early spring, nearly April, and so no one would notice if someone just moved a couple clothes here and there to the top of the pile, stuff like a summer dress for Haruka. Perfect to show off that Joestar glory.

* * *

"Bye bye Jotaro~! Be good!" Holly Kujo happily waved her son off, ignoring the scathing remark that undoubtedly was shooting off from his lips. Really, he was a good boy inside! If only he showed it more…

The silence of the house greeted her as she came back in, empty and alone. But she didn't let it get to her, humming and skipping along to the kitchen to ready her own lunch bento for the day. Soon that was done, and the woman threw her things into a purse for her daily trip to the orphanage.

Holly paused by the old toys that Jotaro had played with as a child, singling out a dusty yellow ball. She sighed in memory, fingers playing across the surface. She missed the happy, young son she'd used to have. Maybe that was why she spent so much time volunteering for the poor children at that place.

She brightened as an idea struck her. The mother went and retrieved a bigger bag, and quickly stuffed it to the brim with some of the toys that had rarely been used.

"The children will be so happy to have something new to play with!" She squealed, rushing out the door and towards the street.

The cute little place was somewhat far from her home, so Holly typically took a nice long stroll there, basking in the spring sunshine and chirping birds. After a half hour of walking, the building came into view, somewhat degenerated from lack of funding, but still going strong. A sign up front declared it to be the Gyousei Orphanage, and she glanced at it one last time before entering.

A frazzled looking receptionist met Holly's eyes, brightening as the young woman realized just who it was. "Morning, Seiko-chan!" she greeted, looking relieved. "We really could use your help today."

Holly grinned back. "Morning, Amiya-chan!" She chirped. "Let me guess, the babies need more looking after?"

"Exactly!" Amiya cried out. "We always need more helping hands. It's like there are never enough to go around these days!" Her rant was cut short, attention grabbed by the extra bag Holly carried. "What's that?"

The Joestar smiled. "Toys for the kids, of course!"

"Always so thoughtful, Seiko!" The receptionist replied happily. "Now go on in and help out!"

The two parted after a brief hug, Holly heading down the hall and towards the noisy toddler room. Ah, so nostalgic to have little ones needing clothes or diaper changes. The sounds only grew as the door was gently pried open, shrieks and cries echoing in her ears.

She looked around for a place to start, setting down her things. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a part of familiar looking twins peeking out of their cradle, babbling syllables excitedly.

"Haruno and Haruka!" She gasped dramatically, going straight towards them. "How are you two cuties doing? You look so adorable today, yes you do!"

Haruka giggled, holding out her chubby arms in the universal gesture for 'hold me!'. Holly lifted her up and twirled her around, making the little girl shriek in delight before coming back to a rest in her arms.

"Such a nice dress you got today, Ruka-chan!" she gushed, inspecting the toddler's attire. "You look so good in blue-"

She stopped short, green eyes widening as they landed on a familiar star shaped marking on the little girl. On the back of the left shoulder, just like Holly's own birthmark. Just to be sure, the mother hastily pulled her shirt back until she could see it and compare. They were the same.

Placing Haruka back in her cradle, Holly looked over the little blonde boy beside her to find that he too had the same marking.

They were part of the Joestar bloodline, that was for sure. The only question was, who on earth had birthed them? Unless her father had some kind of affair with a Japanese woman, there was probably some long lost cousin to the Joestar clan wandering around out there.

Right then and there, Holly Kujo made a decision. They were in an orphanage, but they were part of her family. She also missed looking after little kids all the time.

So she went up to the main office and made a demand to adopt them. It was a little more complicated than that, though.

First there was the piles and piles of paperwork to be done, house visits to make sure Holly would be able to provide for the children she was adopting, and other various things that had to be done first. Finally, after a month of waiting, her application went through and things were finalized.

It was an arduous task, but all that hard work and patience paid off when Holly was able to pick up the twins and officially call them her children. Haruno and Haruka Kujo squealed happily as they bounced along in their carrier all the way home, until finally, the three of them made it to the Kujo household.

"I'm home!" She said cheerfully to an empty house, smile a little sad. If only Sadao was home to see this, to have a chance with his new son and daughter! Sometimes she wished he would stop by more often, but his job was a demanding one.

And when Jotaro came back later that day from school, he was greeted by the sight of two little bundles of energy wriggling all over the floor. His eyes widened, one twitching slightly before he brought his hat over them with a loud, exasperated sigh.

His mother looked up, surprised, greeting him with a happy wave. "Say hello to your new siblings, Jotaro-kun!"

"Yare yare daze," he grumbled beneath the shrieking of the twins.


	4. Chapter 4

Life with the Kujos went fairly normally, to my surprise. But maybe that was just my inner anime fan speaking. Apart from the occasional bizarre adventure once in a while, they were pretty normal people, all things considered.

Honestly, the weirdest thing to me was the Japanese school system, which Jotaro sometimes grumbled about having to attend. But it was less unwillingness on his part than the fact that he would sometimes come home with scrapes and bruises, presumably from bullies or something he got into a scuffle with.

The kid was young, but mature and stoic for his age. He still carried around his signature hat and coat no matter the weather or time of year. Stubborn with his mom though, who though she now had us to look after, still fawned over Jotaro.

I was a little jealous with how he had an out though. Being a child meant being a prime target for Holly's affections, saddled with stuff like being dressed up like dolls. Though it was sort of adorable when viewed from afar, she was overbearing sometimes. But to be honest, I kind of grew to like it.

Holly was just a naturally optimistic and happy person, which was refreshing all on its own, though she was a ditz at times.

The woman, when not showering us with affection, often took us on walks to meet her friends and try to organize playdates and stuff with their own children. Life went on, despite the little annoyances.

* * *

1986, May

It was strange. Giorno had always imagined his own mother, had she been a proper one, giving him hugs and telling him how much she loved him. But now, when confronted with the real deal, and Holly Kujo practically drowning Haruno in things like that, he felt uncomfortable.

It felt nice, that was for sure, but it also sent an ache deep into his core whenever it happened, along with a tinge of anger. His own mother had not just neglected him in this life, but when confronted with an additional child, abandoned them like an unwanted piece of trash in her presence.

He knew Jen didn't particularly think anything of it, but to Giorno, it meant so much, it stung.

This could have been Yoko Shiobana to him, had she even an ounce of Holly's compassion and care.

But as the days wore on, transforming into weeks and finally a month, he grew used to it, craving those gentle touches relayed to him through Haruno. The loving words weaved their way into his being, settling next to his hard and easing that soul-deep ache of his.

"I love you so much Haruno, Haruka~!"

* * *

1986, June

Fifteen year old Jotaro Kujo never thought he'd have to learn to do such a thing as changing a baby, being a (formerly) only child. The smell wafted up his nostrils, and he cringed instinctively at both it and the sight beholden to him.

Why were infants so horribly messy? In anything they accomplished, they left a wave of destruction behind them for the parents, or older siblings, to clean up.

He groaned out a "yare yare" before tentatively scrubbing the bottom of Haruno and replacing the diaper. The process was repeated a second time with his new little sister Haruka, who was much fussier and harder to change with her writhing around so much.

"Thank you for the help Jotaro~!" His mother called from the other room, busy prepping some baby food.

A scowl colored his features. "I only did it cause they wouldn't shut up if I didn't."

* * *

1986, June

I gritted my teeth, a scream of frustration building. A stupid little brat that was supposed to be on a playdate with the twins had decided to take a hold of Haruka's hair and pull. Just. Like. Last time!

"Nee-san, no."

"No one will know what happened!" I grumbled as another twitch of pain was felt from the tug. Haruka began bawling.

"No," Giorno firmly stated, keeping his hold on my tense arms. "We are not assaulting kids, nee-san. For one thing, he doesn't know what he's doing is wrong. For another, this is another chance to learn to keep your temper in check."

"Fine." I deflated, sending a withering glare at the oblivious enemy of mine.

Holly soon intervened, but by that point, I mentally declared that the next person to yank on my hair would find themselves shaved bald in revenge.

* * *

1986, July

His nose was deep in the book, mind entranced by the ideas and concepts swimming through it like a school of fish. It wasn't something he would normally have read, but a special on the local network had piqued his interest on the subject: marine life, specifically dolphins.

Jotaro had to admit, they were kind of cool. They were smart at the very least, with the ability to learn and communicate with trainers to perform some interesting dances and maneuvers.

So engrossed in the book was the Kujo that he didn't notice the child until it was too late to escape. A lump fell on his lap with a shriek, scrunching and tearing the paper of his book violently. Jotaro froze, Haruka's wide green eyes looking back up into his own, tearing up and lip trembling, threatening to begin bawling any second.

He knew better at this point though. The little girl was a natural at making people do her bidding through pouts, cute faces and crying. But even as he prepared to boot the child out of his room again, the teen remembered what this kind of behavior usually meant in conjunction with invading his personal space.

"You want to play, don't you," Jotaro concluded, grumbling.

Haruka smiled widely, crocodile tears forgotten as she repeated the word like a broken record on playback. "Pway, pway!" She begged.

Not far behind, it seemed, Haruno stuck his head in at the sound of their sister's voice. "JoJo pway?"

"Fine, you little brats. I'm coming." It was said in an almost apathetic tone, but underneath that was an undercurrent of amusement.

These two little were really making him soft, weren't they?

* * *

1986, August

One day, a thought popped into my head. "Hey Giorno, if you can transform inanimate objects into lifeforms, can you make people?"

"No, Ruka, I am not making Frankenstein just to satisfy your curiosity. I don't need that on my conscience, questions of feasibility or otherwise."

"What about aging up our bodies with that life manipulation trick thing?"

"Again, no. I don't want to shorten mine or your lifespan just because you're impatient."

"What about making a cat? I'd really like a cat, please?"

"Not at this age. Holly has enough work to do as it stands."

"Oh, come on! Screw you and your reasonable arguments, Giorno."

"I aim to please."

* * *

1986, September

It was a nice summer day outside, perfect for playing, walks, or really anything. Holly had decided to drag us to the park this afternoon, but Jotaro stayed at home because of something he had to take care of. Privately, I think it was because he wanted some uninterrupted quiet time for once. For all the guy had learned to slowly enjoy our presence, he was still pretty much an introvert, who needed to do his nerdy introvert things.

The twins were playing a little party cake game with each other, thankfully occupied for the moment. Me and Giorno were currently deep in discussion about what the differences between the mafia and yakuza really were.

"All I'm saying is that the yakuza is pretty low-key compared to the flashiness of the Italian mafia," I stated.

"I don't think Passione was that flashy," he argued against me.

My head whipped around to fix him with an incredulous look. "Have you seen the kind of fashion you people were sporting? I half wondered if Araki made that kind of stuff up since it was pretty out there."

Giorno opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't seem to find anything to say. Instead he opted for shooting me a slightly embarrassed look. "My ladybug suit was personal taste."

A laugh tumbled out of me. "Your fashion sense was definitely from Dio if you like stuff like heart-shaped ab windows."

He finally seemed to admit defeat on the matter, a small smile slipping over his lips. "If you say so, nee-san."

The park we were in was fairly run of the mill: a swing set with animal designs painted on it, a jungle gym, and a slide, all of them inside a big sand pit. We seemed to have reached our destination as Holly unbuckled the twins from the stroller, letting them run free with a bunch of giggles, screams, and ecstatic whoops of joy. It would almost be adorable if we weren't being dragged along right behind them like a dead baby seal by a polar bear.

My face wrinkled. Man, that was not an image I'd wanted in my head. "This always happens."

"Not for much longer, though," Giorno reminded me. Although he had the patience of a saint compared to my short fuse, the guy was still stuck in the same boat as me.

The day I could finally be in my body again was one I looked forward to wholeheartedly, although it would be a tiny one. Maybe one day some of these terrible memories could even fade. The sensation of being changed was something I could live without.

"You know, I used to love coming to places like this when I was a kid," I remarked. "You can just watch people and figure out things about them, like their friend groups and stuff."

Holly moved out of the corner of my eye, turning to set her things on a bench.

"...wait." I put all my attention on the implications of that statement. "Does that make me some low-key stalker or something?" My face twisted and my voice became high pitched. "Giorno! Am I a stalker?!"

His lips twitched, a smile growing as he kept listening to my panicky rant before it split into a soft laugh at my frantic questions. I stopped in my worry at the noise, before a wave of embarrassment crashed over me. But before I knew it, I too was giggling.

"N-no, that does not make you a stalker, nee-san," Giorno finally replied. "Just an observant person. I do some of that myself, so if you were one, that would make me one as well."

The moment was shattered with a shrill scream. My head whipped around in startled alarm to find the source, but to my horror, it was Holly Kujo herself. She was waving frantically around, as if trying to feel for something, and tripped over the bench she was next to. It was like she had suddenly gone blind.

I spotted a person moving quickly away with her purse in hand, a silver pair of glasses with a strange attachment on the left side the only prominent thing on an otherwise unnoteworthy man. His eyes caught my form and widened fractionally behind the glasses, darting towards Giorno beside me as well.

He was a Stand User, and the man had done something to Holly. Anger boiled beneath my chest, my fingers twitching as my ability was at their fingertips, ready to unleash. But before I knew it, everything had gone black as the man's eyes made contact with mine.

Nothing was visible at all, a void I knew well consuming my vision. My breath hitched at the reminder of that all consuming abyss, bits of me being stolen and my mind violated- a hand grabbed mine, shocking me out of my daze and grounding me.

I squeezed my lifeline and tried to steady my panicky breathing, eyes squinting shut tightly. It was okay. I was okay.

"It's alright, Haruka," Giorno whispered. "Did he blind you like Holly?"

"Y-yes." But light seemed to be coming back quickly after about ten seconds. I made out his concerned face in front of mine, and beyond that, Holly attempting to rush the man who had stolen her purse, but failing spectacularly in another stumble to the ground. "But I'm good now. Not too long of a time at all, and it seems initiated by eye contact."

I picked up my younger self, Giorno following suit. My slim legs made contact with the earth, after so long, dashing after the rapidly fleeing man. I was slightly faster than him, leaping over to land in front of him and prevent escape.

A glare was sent the user's way, but I focused on his forehead to keep eye contact from occurring. "Give up the purse. Take your troublesome Stand and go someplace else," I threatened.

The delivery was spoiled slightly by shrieking child in my arms.

"And why should I surrender to some little brats?" Came the thief's gruff voice, growling. "I, Meiōsei Gotō am entitled to everything in the world!"

I smiled sweetly. "Because otherwise, well…I don't want to kill you, but my little friend here can make you hurt." My free hand flexed for emphasis, making the thief flinch slightly. "You can't really run anymore, anyways."

While Meiōsei was busy glowering at me, Giorno had taken the opportunity to touch a crumbling part of the sidewalk and transform them into roots. They grew rapidly and wrapped around the thief's ankles, making the man fall over with a grunt and sending the purse skidding across the concrete.

The half Japanese man stood above Meiōsei, features stony. "People like you are what I hate about society. The scum that try to tear everything down and build themselves up as gods, as better than the people they crush under their heel."

He growled back up at my brother, eyes flickering as they tried to make contact. "If I wasn't better, then I wouldn't have this power of mine,「Everything's Black」! You should know this, having powers like it!"

My brow twitched at the sudden bout of monologuing. Anime wasn't really exaggerating here, it seemed. "This is so dumb. Newsflash, stupid. Just because you have a Stand doesn't mean you're the next bigshot everyone grovels to. Abilities like ours should be used for more than that."

He seemed a bit taken aback by the verbal barrage I spewed at him, but quickly recovered, smirking as he snapped his fingers. My younger self's eyes drifted up to his, my own widened in realization of what was about to happen, and then I was blinded again.

* * *

Giorno was really sick of random Stand Users always appearing at the most inopportune moments. One second you were peacefully doing something, like, say, paperwork, when all of a sudden somebody crashes through your window and threatens you like they own the place, kind of like this pompous, arrogant idiot.

He was also sick of not having his Arrowhead at all. Gold Experience Requiem made taking care of them so easy, but it seemed he'd relied too much on it, his life giving abilities taken a backseat ever since Giorno had gained the Stand enhancing weapon.

The mafia don was out of practice, and he paid for it, being too slow to anticipate the opponent's move against his younger self. Eye contact was made between the two and the green laser shot out from Meiōsei's stand, but this time, something was different. It pulled back something white and glowing from Giorno, and all of a sudden, his strength was sapped, and he collapsed to the ground, feeling as weak as a newborn lamb.

Beside him, Haruno let out a cry of alarm and panic as his own tiny legs buckled, but thankfully fell against Giorno without twisting anything. Jen was still flailing around uselessly from the sense sapping attack she'd been subjected to, Haruka screaming incoherently in her arms.

Meiōsei, trapped under the roots, seemed to buff up slightly, releasing a roar as he tore at the plant matter keeping him stuck. Muscular arms ripped through his sleeves, rippling and flexing with power.

He rose triumphantly, smirk still in place. "Now you're weak! I tower over you because I am strong, as it should be! To take from the worthless and become more than I am is my true ability!"

"For heaven's sake," snarled Jen's voice from behind Meiōsei, "SHUT YOUR FRIGGIN TRAP!"

The man turned to incapacitate Giorno's sister again, only to get a facefull of pepper spray. A keening noise left his lips as he fell to the sidewalk, clawing at his face like a mad cat. Apparently, Holly had carried something for self defense in that purse of hers after all.

Giorno was able to move again, sitting up with Haruno to watch Jen and Haruka harass their enemy. Whenever he would start getting back up, the woman would happily show the little girl how to make him fall back down again. Soon enough, the toddler was shrieking gleefully and pressing down on the canister of pepper spray herself, making Meiōsei start sobbing and begging for the sweet release of death.

Jen, Giorno thought numbly, is most definitely a sadist with those she hates. Note to self, don't get on her bad side.

Then he noticed Holly Kujo staring at the scene, mouth wide open in mortification. And confusion, because she was also staring right at the purse with her emerald eyes turning to pinpricks. Of course, she only saw the hovering purse, but that was enough.

Jen froze when she realized who was watching, slowly turning with the purse dangling from her grip. Meiōsei gurgled, trying to crawl away, but without even glancing back, she brought the purse down on his head, hard. The man went down like a sack of bricks to the concrete, evidently knocked unconscious.

She then proceeded to drop the purse to the ground, as if nothing paranormal had happened at all. Holly looked at the purse with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing like a fish, but no sound coming out.

All of a sudden, Haruka and Haruno broke away from the scene of the fight to rush towards their mother, babbling and jumping and pointing like little toddlers were prone to doing. Of course, this meant that the Stand spirits were dragged along close behind, reluctant grimaces covering their respective features.

"Kaa-san, Kaa-san!" The little ones chorused in tandem. "Baddy go bye-bye!"

Cue the faint of Holly to the ground, Jen facepalming hard, and Giorno wondering how the day could get any worse.


	5. Chapter 5

Holly thankfully passed the whole thief incident off as a hallucination once she woke up. If I were in her shoes, I would probably do the same thing. Seeing a floating purse is something a little less than sane sounding, as she probably realized when giving her statement to an officer that came by after Holly finally found a payphone.

But she was always a little more wary of pink purses from then on, eventually just handing it off to one of her friends with the excuse of it being a spur of the moment gift. The thing was kind of hideous anyways.

So life went back to normal, or as normal as could get in this occasionally crazy, noisy and bizarre life of ours.

* * *

1986, November

The sole woman of the Kujo household was busy at work in the kitchen that morning, busy whipping up a sweet batch of dango. As she turned to wash her hands from all the labor, from the corner of her eye, a small and chubby hand was attempting to snatch at the plate of already prepped dango, but with minimal success due to the sheer height difference.

"Honey, no," Holly repeated for the umpteenth time with a tired sigh. "You don't get any dango until later."

The girl froze, caught red handed in the act. Haruka's cheeks puffed out, reddening, and crocodile tears threatening to start pouring down her face like a waterfall. "B-buh Mama-"

"We have to save it for when Jotaro gets back later. It is his birthday today, dear," the middle aged mother told the child somewhat sternly.

Her face went beet red, and all of a sudden, she was writhing and screaming on the floor like a man possessed. "NOOO! WANNA DANGO! WANNA DANGO!"

Holly was taken aback, startled by the sudden tantrum. What was she supposed to do during one? Jotaro never had them for sure, but her delicate nerves were quickly fraying from all the guttural shrieking her daughter was making.

"Now honey," she tried, "you're still going to get some, you just have to-"

"WANNA DANGO NOW!" Haruka interrupted angrily, slamming her tiny fists on the flooring repeatedly.

The whole thing went on for a good fifteen minutes, ending only when Haruka had tired herself out thoroughly from the raging fit, collapsing dead tired in the middle of the kitchen. A disheveled and equally exhausted Holly picked the snoozing girl up and brought her back to her room, dreading the next time something like this occurred.

Holly Kujo was not made to discipline children, being more of a doormat at times.

Unseen by the mother, a certain Stand spirit facepalmed in sheer embarrassment at her younger self.

* * *

1987, January

So. It turns out that Japanese don't really celebrate Christmas. A little disappointing to be sure, but their own holidays were something else. More specifically, the New Year celebration, or Shōgatsu, which the Japanese went at with the fervor of Americans during the Christmas season.

Fireworks, festivals, money given to kids, metric tons of food...the works, all put on at the same time.

Our family seemed to casually celebrate the holidays, which was understandable, given how Holly was originally from America. What we were doing then was simply going to view the fireworks for a while, then come back to the Kujo estate to watch a movie. Basic, yet nice.

A phantom throb ached in my chest as I was reminded of my own family's New Year's celebrations. It was always a quiet affair like this was, with the few members we had. Dad was always absent, working overseas with his job, so I'd already been used to the gaping hole Sadao Kujo left in my new family.

Mom and I would always count down the seconds until the next year excitedly, especially when I was younger. The fireworks would go off in the distance as we ate Italian New Year foods on the porch- stuff like risotto, exotic raisins, or sausages baked with green lentils and eaten at the stroke of midnight. They symbolized the hope for a wealthy next year and financial success.

The twins were a little rowdy during the fireworks, but they soon settled down along with an unreadable Jotaro to watch the fantastic flowers bloom in the night sky. Holly laughed and pointed out ones that made pictures when they appeared. Giorno was similarly distracted, but paused every so often to glance my way concernedly.

"Are you alright, nee-san?" He asked, always in that polite tone, yet tinged with worry this time..

I forced a laugh from my lips, light but utterly hollow in substance. "I'm fine! What are you talking about, nii-san?"

Giorno let the subject drop, but that didn't rid the concern from his eyes.

Later, my lip trembled ever so slightly as noises from Columbo echoed in my ears. My mom used to love it as a child, making me watch it often in my own childhood, and now every line was like a nail being driven into my chest, trying to break my fragile, glass heart.

The edges of my vision blurred, and I turned away and fled to the edge of my range until the tether was as taut as possible. It hurt. Why did it only hurt now?

I thought I was long over this. I was supposed to be stronger than this, stronger than my stupid feelings that were stupid to have. She was gone, it was all gone, and there was no point in ruminating on it like some brooding maniac.

"Nee-san." My head jerked up at the voice of my brother, tears undoubtedly streaking down my Stand's face now.

He looked a little frustrated and more than a little worried now. "What's the matter? I can't help if I don't know how."

"This…just all reminded me of my mom, alright?!" I snapped without thinking, sniffling and sinking to the floor after my outburst. "The new year was always just me and her. Just us, fireworks, Italian food, and stupid Columbo that they have on over there."

The twins glanced briefly in our direction, giggled at my description of the movie, before then getting sucked back into the detective show. Giorno was already wrapping his arms around me in a hug while I was distracted. Surprisingly, his grip was less awkward than before, like he'd finally gotten the practice.

It was nice.

"Nee-san…" he pulled back after a brief moment, a conflicted look flashing across his face. "I don't know about missing my mother but…" he hesitated momentarily, as if wondering if he should say whatever was coming next. "I confess I miss my friends a lot. Mista, Trish...those who died against Diavolo," the former mafia don added.

I swallowed deeply, blinking rapidly. "Does it ever get any easier?"

"It can. It depends on if you have people to help you move on, to keep going like they would have wanted you to," replied Giorno.

A shaky smile formed. "Then I guess I'm lucky you're here, aren't I?"

The half-Japanese gave his own small quirk of the lips. "The hugs really help, don't they? Especially Holly's."

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, aside from the increased physical affection between the twins.

* * *

February, 1987

It was bright and early in the morning when Jotaro usually got up, getting ready for the day. Put the futon away, put his night clothes away, and pull out his prized cap and gakuran.

Except they weren't there. At all. The teenager felt a prickle of frustration at the missing clothes, more frantically searching his room. He hadn't misplaced them in his room at all- they were just gone.

That was, until he remembered that it was laundry day. His mother had probably taken his basket to clean without him waking up. Troublesome woman, with her insistence on tidying up for him.

With a low "yare yare", he walked out of the room, socks softly hitting the hardwood as Jotaro made his way towards the laundry room. As he approached through the massive winding halls of the Kujo estate, a light humming could be heard echoing through the building.

Finally Jotaro arrived, placing his large hand on the frame and peering in. Holly continued with her tune, dressed in her house cleaning outfit, and carefully placed some clothes in the washing machine.

"Where's my gakuran?" He asked, startling the woman and making her drop her load with a squeak.

"Oh, hi Jotaro-kun~!" Holly greeted, bending down to pick them up again. "Your things are still in their basket. I haven't gotten the chance to clean them yet." She gestured towards the aforementioned container, filled to bursting with dirty clothing.

He went through the basket, and yet his gakuran and hat were nowhere to be found. Someone had to have taken them.

Cue the high-pitched voice of his little sister outside the door. "Yare yare daze!"

Jotaro blinked in dumbfounded surprise at the sight before him while Holly squealed a "So cute~!". The little girl was waddling in a sea of cloth, his school uniform back dragging behind her like a black cape. Haruka had also donned his oversized cap, wreathing her face in dramatic shadows. Or they would be, if the hat didn't keep dipping over her entire face.

And just behind her, in a spare uniform and hat Jotaro had almost forgotten about, was Haruno. The kid had a deadpan look on his face, like he'd rather be literally anywhere else right now. "Yare yare," he muttered in an identical imitation of Jotaro.

A loud, but fond sigh escaped the Japanese teen, facepalming. "Yare yare daze, indeed."

* * *

1987, March

It was late into the evening, the sun's rays beginning to die as it peeked below the horizon, sending splashes of orange and pink across the sky of Italy. It was a beautiful time for one to go for a walk, watch the sunset, or something equally enjoyable.

Unfortunately, Giorno Giovanna was buried under the responsibilities of being the leader of Passione at the moment.

"Hey Giorno, you got a minute?"

Twin seafoam eyes looked blearily up at Mista from the hoard of paperwork the don had to complete. An exhausted smile made its way onto his face. "Yes?"

The shooter's expression was somewhat uncomfortable, fingers fidgeting with themselves. "Sooo...you know where Trish is? I got something to tell her, and-"

Giorno raised a hand to stop his incessant mumbling. "Say no more. Are you finally proposing?"

Mista gained a lovestruck grin, nodding sheepishly and producing a small black box from one of his front pockets.

"She should be over by the kitchens. Good luck, Mista!" He called after the man swiftly sprinting out the door.

After a brief period of quiet and more scribbling signatures on paperwork, Giorno suddenly jolted as a loud crack rang through the building. His heart beat furiously in his chest, and his face went pale. No, no no, not now-

A desperate expression overtook his features as the don tore through room after room in the direction of the disruption. It had come from the back, where a romantic like Mista would probably present the ring during the sunset.

Giorno finally burst out onto the veranda, heart in his throat and bringing Gold Experience out along with the Arrowhead-

Except for neither appeared. Splayed out on the ground before him were familiar bodies, pink hair and a pistol shiny and wet with blood. They didn't move, and Giorno instinctively knew they were dead. His fingers trembled as he backed away, shaking.

His heel hit another corpse, sending him toppling over backwards. Giorno grunted from the impact, but froze when the sightless eyes of Narancia burned into his mind, and then replaced with Abbacchio and Buccallati in rapid succession, each oozing from their mortal wounds.

"We would be alive if you didn't want, want want so badly, Giorno Giovanna." Their voices overlapped in a demonic symphony, echoing like they were all speaking into a bell.

They rose, form still flickering, and pointed a dripping, bloody finger his way, sending him stumbling into a nearby wall. "Your ambitions destroyed, destroyed, destroyed us!" They unleashed in a blood curdling shriek.

A tear escaped the eyes of Giorno Giovanna-

And a toddler and his Stand spirit self woke up with a muffled cry. Giorno slammed his shaking palms over his face, trying desperately to not let a sob break loose. He would not cry, he would not, he would not.

But Haruno still did enough, tears leaking out and staining the blanket, quiet cries beginning. Haruka was now awake, Jen rubbing her own bleary eyes from the sudden disturbance.

"Another nightmare?" She softly asked, beginning to rub Haruno's head in an effort to calm the boy. She grimaced, as it didn't seem to work, only making his sobs become louder.

Giorno shuddered, hands unmoving from their place over his mouth, not trusting his voice not to immediately crack with emotion. His eyes burned, and he gave a hesitant nod.

"To Kaa-san's room again, then?" Jen helpfully picked up the twins, floating the pair down the hall with Giorno on her heels.

Their mother's room wasn't too big or fancy, probably converted from a guest room. It held a good deal of what had to be mementos, a fan here and a pretty star sticker there. In the middle of it all slept Holly, a small smile on her face as she dreamed under the flowery covers of her king sized futon.

Quietly, they entered and slipped the twins under the covers beside their mother, who didn't even shift. Instantly, Haruno calmed, grabbing a hold of Holly and sniffling, while Haruka surrendered to her ancient instincts to hug the woman like a panda bear. Soon, they were all asleep again.

Meanwhile, Giorno and Jen hovered over the trio, embracing one another. His sister's hugs were always warm and comforting, calming his franticness eventually. It was sad to say that the nightmares occurred far to often, but at least with them was brought this.

The reminder that whatever pains he faced during the night, or in life, Giorno Giovanna, or Haruno Kujo, had the warmth of a true family.

* * *

1987, April 16

I think I should have really expected it to happen soon. Haruno and Haruka had been showing serious signs of memory bleed over during the past few months. A little of my quirks here and there in Haruka, with the way she began to have an irritable attitude and anger issues, mostly expressed in tantrums and screams. Haruno was the same, his facial cues becoming near identical to Giorno's, becoming quieter, more observant.

What really should have tipped me off was them having little discussions when no one else was in earshot, specifically in English.

So the morning of our birthday, bright and early, I woke up, yawning, and stared at my surroundings, which were certainly bigger than I remembered them being. Except not, because I also remembered them always being like that since Kaa-san adopted me and Runo and brought us home-

The splitting headache made itself known as I tried to parse through the memories. Was I Jen who subsumed Haruka? Haruka who had inadvertently killed Jen? Again? No. Don't think about it. That way lie downward spiral, existential crises, and a freakout of quite epic proportions.

I was me. Haruka. Whatever. I couldn't really keep calling myself Jen now, could I? (Then what would I call Runo-kun?)

A small groan escaped me as I rubbed my head from the violently clashing perspectives inside my brain. Something rustled beside me in the cradle, and a head of blonde hair peeked out of the large blue blanket we shared. Uncomfortable seafoam eyes looked into mine, massaging his temple with a free hand.

"Hi. You got downloaded back into reality, too?" I muttered in my adorably high pitched voice, flicking my mop of snarly brown strands away from my face.

Giorno sighed heavily. "Yes. I never thought that having our bodies back would be this...painful." It was really weird seeing a toddler articulate such a long sentence.

"Having two pairs of memories isn't a walk in the park. Something had to hurt."

After a moment to let the pain in my head fade to a dull throb, I brought out my Stand on a whim. Cosmic Girl stood proud, antennae waving in an unseen wind, and starry eyes gazing down on me.

There was that weird feeling of being in two places again, like how it was all the way back at the very beginning. This had potential, though. Maybe something like multitasking?

But I was back in my body, or at least my new body. I focused on that train of thought, a slow grin building. That meant I could move around where I wanted, taste things again.

Of course, I still had my younger self's memories of doing that, but I'd also simultaneously gone two years without eating a thing. It was the principle of the thing, really.

My stomach grumbled in agreement, my brother's doing it in tandem. Breakfast was on.

* * *

Staring up at the looming fridge, I finally remembered that Holly/Kaa-san didn't really get up nearly this early in the morning. That meant we were on our own making food, but thankfully, Stands were a thing.

So what were we going to make exactly?

Giorno suggested making something Italian, like crespelles, but that was almost immediately vetoed after it was revealed that alcohol was a key ingredient. What the world didn't need was two tipsy toddler Stand users, not to mention it would be bad for our young, developing bodies to have.

So we went with pancakes. Holly even had a bag of mix in the back of her pantry, amongst a ton of other stuff I wasn't able to read (still yet another thing we had to work on, I mentally grumbled).

Fresh fruit was abundant in the kitchen, especially strawberries from a place called Tochigi Prefecture. Berry pancakes then! But before I could open the package, Giorno spoke up.

"Wait, is there any chocolate in the pantry?" he asked, before blushing a little at my startled look. "It's a favorite of mine, and it goes well with strawberries."

I gave him a sunny smile. "Sure thing, Giorno. Some chocolate strawberry pancakes coming right up!"

It took a bit of scouring and maybe a bit of stretching openings between things with my Stand, but finally, I found a nice big package of chocolate chips. Makes sense it would be out of sight, though. Holly was a bit of a health nut, so it probably got dropped behind stuff for a while and forgotten.

At any rate, flipping pancakes was where the Stands came in most of all. Us being less than two feet tall, stubby limbs and no stools in sight, we weren't going to be using the pan ourselves. So Gold Experience came to save the day, flipping the increasingly mouth-watering pancakes with ease.

Truly, a terrifying display of power.

Of course, we were on the very last pancakes when a gasp of shock echoed from behind me. I stiffened, fear crawling up my spine. Giorno startled and Gold Experience jolted, the pancake sent flying backwards out of the suddenly raised pan.

I followed its arc, numb in horror as it careened towards a still gaping Holly in her nightclothes. But an instant before it would've made contact, a black sleeved arm whipped in front of her. The pancake hit the clothing with a loud splat, sending flecks of strawberry and batter onto his face and coat.

It slowly came down, revealing the stern face of Jotaro. It was a face that demanded an explanation for what just occurred, and not only because of the rogue pancake that almost hit our mom in the face. His attention was drawn to the space that Gold Experience occupied. Or more accurately, the pan it was holding.

A brow of his distinctly spasmed, and a low "yare yare" could be heard under his breath.

More importantly, however, was the pale Holly that evidently could see the pancake perpetrator, if her eyes darting around Gold Experience's features were any indication. Surprisingly, she didn't up and faint like the last instance of her encountering the supernatural. Instead, she put her palm to her chest, took a deep breath, and just looked like she was on the verge of fainting.

"We can explain, Kaa-san!" I stuttered, Giorno slowly placing the pan down and withdrawing his Stand.

Now to think of something that wouldn't cause Holly so much stress she had to go to the hospital over it…because the truth would probably be just that.

* * *

"DADDY, YOU'VE GOTTA HELP ME!" Holly hysterically screamed into the phone in English. "MY TWO PRECIOUS LITTLE PUMPKINS ARE BEING HAUNTED BY GHOSTS!"

Maaaaybe I could've come up with something different, but don't get on my case! I was pressed for time, and I'm not a good liar. Therefore, ghosts, spirits, or whatever supernatural stuff that was decidedly not Stands, since they were still far more believable.

At least this way, she was getting a hold of people who could actually help with this whole mess. Ironic that the moment we were no longer resteicted to our Stands, Holly began developing her ability to see them. It begged the question of how long it would take before Jotaro could see them as well.

Her eye still twitched whenever she caught sight of Giorno on the play mat she'd set up to keep an eye on us. Jotaro watched from the other side of the room.

"Huh?" Came a familiar voice over the speaker, before brightening. "Holly? It's been way too long! How are you my little darling?"

"I'm doing great daddy, aside from the GHOSTS haunting my precious little twins!" She reminded him.

"...EH?!" Joseph yelped in surprise. "I HAVE MORE GRANDKIDS AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

"Sort of, daddy. Haruno and Haruka, they're adopted, but they have the family birthmark…" Holly trailed off, "...unless you know something about that? You haven't been fooling around with any other women besides mum, have you?" She asked in a somewhat accusing tone.

What? I gave a loud snort, which made both Giorno and Jotaro look at me weirdly. She thought we were ol' Joseph's illegitimate kids? Wait till she finds out about Josuke.

"What? O-of course not, flower blossom!" Joesph denied far too quickly. "I wouldn't dream of doing something like that!"

"Good!" Holly huffed. "And my two little bundles of joy are being haunted by some strange gold ghost! Although it might be nice…" she muttered suddenly. "It was making the kids breakfast. But it's still a ghost! And I know you have some sort of power from our ancestors, so…"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, then Joseph spoke up with a far more serious tone. "Did the...ghost...happen to be near one of them in particular?"

"Oh, yes, it was hovering near Haruno, daddy. Why do you ask?"

Suddenly, his humor was back. "Nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart. I'll be booking a flight to get there tomorrow morning. If you don't mind, I'll be bringing a friend of mine who has experience with these types of situations."

"Alright daddy!" Holly said cheerfully. "See you soon!"

"Bye, sweetie! I love you!"

"Love you too!"

"No, I love you more! Bye bye!"

Finally, the phone hit the receiver with a click as it was put back, Holly releasing a sigh. Jotaro had a distinct grimace on his face, probably from the cringy farewells our Kaa-san and Jiji just shared.

It was silent up until my stomach growled again. "Can we still have those pancakes?"


	6. Chapter 6

Glowing purple vines wound and flexed around his forearm, the old man observing them furrowing his wrinkled brow in thought. The thorny plant shimmered and faded away like a phantom, leaving him to sigh tiredly and glance out the plane window beside him.

Part of Joseph was ecstatic. He had two brand new grandkids to babysit and spoil, to watch grow up...that it was in Japan of all places was a little disheartening, but that was fine. The Joestar could brave a few discomforts for the sake of seeing them.

But the rest of his feelings were a mixture of confusion, dread and whatever else. Who were the kid's parents? How did one of them suddenly have a Stand, and what did this mean for the future?

Well, for the Stand business, it could easily be because of that ancient vampire Dio, given that Haruka and Haruno had the mark of the Joestar bloodline. Hermit Purple pulsed under Joseph's skin along with his roiling emotions. To have used his ancestor's body in such a way, to bring such turmoil-!

He forced himself to relax, sighing again. There was no point in getting all worked up about it now.

Skyscrapers and suburbs passed below them, growing with every second until the plane finally it touched down with a slight rumble. Avdol woke with a jerk, shaking his head to wake himself, and the two filed out and towards the airport.

We were all waiting inside the airport for at least an hour now, our mother anxiously pacing on the tile for a glimpse of our visitors. Meanwhile, me and Giorno sat side by side and messed with some coloring books, Jotaro leaning back beside us with his hat tilted over his face. Maybe napping, but I really couldn't tell with him

Bored, I was absentmindedly scrawling purple crayon onto a kitten picture when Holly perked up and gasped, raising her hand high and shaking it. "Daddy, over here, Daddy~!"

An old man dressed in what could only be called Indiana Jones wear turned at the sound of her voice, letting out a brief "oof!" as she rushed at him gleefully. She tackled his midsection and curled her arms around her father in a hug, and was whirled around as the two laughed.

"I can't believe you're here!" Holly squealed, pulling back slightly.

"Why wouldn't I be here for my only daughter?" Joseph chuckled. "Just give me a call, and I'll be across the globe if you need me!"

"Next time it better be both you _and_ Mom. She would love to meet her new grandkids," the woman sighed. "If only things weren't so strange right now."

The cheery atmosphere dimmed slightly at that, but both were startled out of their embrace and reverie when Jotaro seemed to wake up with a slight grunt, drawing their attention to our little group. "Jiji."

"Jotaro. You look like a delinquent."

"And that's none of your business, old man."

I stared incredulously at the enormous old man towering over me. The anime had painted him as someone with muscles nearly as big as my head, with a body so large and thick it was like someone had given a brick wall legs. In person, he was still pretty buff, but in a physically possible sense, with powerful, yet lean limbs. Old, but still intimidating.

And then the whole image was shattered the moment his eyes trailed over to me and Giorno. Joseph's turquoise orbs lit up and he let out a soft, "Oh. My. Gosh. You two are adorable."

Holly gave a slight laugh at that, and just behind our grandfather, Muhammad Abdul snorted. Jotaro just rolled his eyes, pulling his hat back over his face.

"Oh! And I have something for them!" Joseph quickly went to his bag, fumbling with it for a bit before pulling out two presents and shoving them our mother's way. "Late birthday presents, or Christmas, if you'd prefer? I have so much lost time to make up for!"

My jaw dropped open slightly, and beside me, Giorno seemed just as overwhelmed by our grandfather's presence, shooting me a disbelieving look. I'd forgotten how goofy of a guy the old Joestar could be.

He came closer, bending down to greet us with a bright grin. "Hi there, kids! I'm your grandpa Joseph! And you must be Haruno and Haruka!"

I gaped, unsure of what to do. Joseph deflated slightly when he didn't get any better response from my brother, who wore a blank expression over his features. Whether it was from resigned tiredness towards the situation or complete apathy, I had no idea.

Maybe I should get on his page. With all the weird crap Stand users tend to get into, it couldn't hurt to learn Giorno's skill of being nearly impervious to surprises.

"What's wrong?" He mourned dramatically, collapsing to the seat next to Jotaro, who sighed and pulled his cap down even further. "Am I that unapproachable of a grandfather?'

"Daddy, they're two!" Holly admonished lightly. "They don't know English at all yet."

Lady, if you only knew.

The face fault that twisted Joseph's face at the realization was so hilarious, I had to bite my lip to keep myself from breaking down into laughter right there, struggling not to show a smile. I would _not_ laugh at my new grandpa, _nope, nope!_

Thankfully, before my restrained giggles could explode, a certain Middle-Eastern man coughed politely into his fist. "Ahem. Mr. Joestar, I think you've gotten a bit carried away. I believe we were here about the, ah, 'ghost'?"

Like a switch was flipped, the old man in question sobered and stood, brushing off his brown suit and adopting a serious expression. "Ah, uh, yeah. Sorry about that, everyone. We should really take this to the house, shouldn't we?"

My heart was in my throat and leaden butterflies in my stomach all the way back, until finally, we were seated in the common room of the Kujo home. What would happen next would change everything about how our family perceived the two of us. My knuckles were stark white with how hard my hands gripped each other.

A soft hand subtly placed itself over mine, sending waves of quiet reassurance. Right. Giorno had this in the bag. He was a former mafia don, and part of that came stuff like negotiations, explanations and lying. He knew exactly what he was doing.

_"We're screwed Giorno. I don't know what to do, and, and AND-!" Came my hysterical screams, arms waving frantically in the air. "They're gonna find everything out, and then they're gonna look at us like aliens! Kaa-san won't hug us anymore! Jotaro will never play with us ever again! And then- and then-!"_

_"Calm down."_

_"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!" My hands were on my brother's collar, jerking him from side to side like a ragdoll as I shrieked incoherently. "If there's any time to not be calm, this is it Giorno!"_

_"Nee-san, listen to me!"_

_"Eh?" I finally snapped out of my rant and focused on him, my grip on his shirt slackening. "Um, why?"_

_"For one thing, it was getting a bit hard to breathe." A blush reddened my cheeks, and I looked away sheepishly._

_Giorno out his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "We're not doomed. You're overthinking things again."_

_"B-but what if-" I stuttered, but was quickly losing steam._

_"Obviously we shouldn't spill the whole story, yes, but we still want to tell them about some of the future things, correct?"_

_"Oh! Oh, yeah. I don't want anybody getting donuted or eaten by an evil ice cream guy, so that's a must." My green eyes narrowed, sticking Giorno with a glare. "Fine, we're not doomed. But you better do this whole thing, Mr. Mafia Don, because my big fat mouth will just spill everything. Loose lips sink ships, and all that."_

_He gave a little chuckle at the expression. "Do you trust me or not?"_

_I gave him a weird look. "When did I ever not?"_

When Joseph politely asked if he could meet their new, ghostly friend, Haruno shut his eyes, seemingly concentrating, and then with a slight shimmer in the air, the golden phantom slipped out of the boy like a hand from a glove. It looked around the room with those cold, robotic eyes, taking in the new surroundings.

A light shiver crawled up her spine as its purple eyes passed over her. No matter how many times she saw it, the thing was still incredibly creepy.

"Its name is Gold Experience," Haruno mumbled quietly. "Haruka's got one too."

The little girl perked up, then screwed her eyes shut like her brother. A tall, lithe figure faded into view, night themed colors and silver accents gleaming and star pupiled eyes blinking at the audience.

"She's Cosmic Girl!" Haruka giggled, and the phantom gave a bright grin, flashing pearly whites. At the very least, this one didn't look like a soulless machine.

Not one, but two ghosts? Holly frowned, shooting her father a weary glance. "Daddy, can you tell us exactly what these are? I think an explanation is due."

Jotaro grunted his own affirmation, looking to the old man for guidance. He was stroking his beard in thought, looking a little perplexed, then sighed.

"Alright, alright. These aren't your run of the mill ghosts the kids have got here, pumpkin," Joseph stated. "What they've developed is an ability that's really rare to see, something called a Stand. They are… basically a person's mental energies given form."

He held his forearm up for emphasis, violet thorned vines snaking up from beneath and around the limb. It had a wispy and otherworldly aura to it, similar to the other spirits in the room. "This is my own Stand, called Hermit Purple. Stands typically come with supernatural abilities, and mine possesses the power to take spirit photos of a target I have in mind, showing their location and what they look like."

Her mind went numb at the revelation. "So...my children have super powers, and you can take magical photos of people?"

This was a lot to take in at once. Holly slumped backwards into her seat. Oh heavens. It was difficult enough being a practically single mother of two kids and a rebellious teenager, but with the supernatural added into the equation…she shuddered to think of what the future would hold.

It was at times like these that she wished Sadao was home more often. Maybe a father would do the kids some good in their lives.

Wait. A father?

An idea bloomed in her mind, and before she could even think about it, Holly blurted it out. "Does that mean you can take a picture of whoever their father is?"

The room went dead quiet, and then a loud "OH MY GOSH!" sounded from Joseph as he facepalmed. He rifled through his bag at a feverish pace, throwing papers here and there until finally, he brought out an especially expensive looking camera. She absently wondered how her father was going to use it.

To her dismay, he then proceeded to smash it in with a yell and a Stand powered hand. The mechanical ruin left behind crackled and smoked, and then finally, a photo popped out the bottom of the camera. It was placed on the table, and the image gradually faded into view, revealing a blonde haired man wreathed in shadows, only the back of his body visible. A prominent scar wreathed the neck, running jagged acrossed.

But on the exposed skin of the back was a very familiar star birthmark. Joseph's eyes bulged dangerously, teeth gritting at the sight.

"Dio."

The soft voice that spoke was that of a young man, lightly accented with what Holly could faintly identify as Italian. But it came from the Stand, Gold Experience, who peered down at the picture. An almost wistful look seemed to flit across its face, but then it was gone.

"The vampire who took our true father's body, Jonathan Joestar, and will be in Cairo in late 1988. At that time, he will send assassins and Stand users in droves in an effort to destroy the Joestar bloodline for good."

A _vampire?_ Taking the body of their ancestor? And wanting to murder her _whole family_ in less than two years' time? Of all the revelations of today, this was the most overwhelming. Suddenly Holly felt lightheaded, like she was about to faint.

All eyes were on the Stand, Joseph's in particular narrowed at it. "A Stand that talks? And one that can see the future."

It tilted its head, gazing back at the old man intently. "You could call it that, I suppose. But in all honesty, it was truly only a one time ability, brought about by the unique connection between my user and his twin." Gold Experience's hands spread wide. "It has given us limited knowledge pertaining to a future, although it has already diverged from the current timeline because the twin of my user did not exist within it."

"But this is the only difference, and it won't change anything that body snatcher Dio does until that time?" he asked carefully.

"In all likeliness, yes." The two guests sighed in relief, glancing meaningfully at each other.

She relaxed a smidgen at the news, but her heart still beat frantically in her chest. Her head spun and felt like a balloon, floating away…Holly finally fainted on her son's lap, who was looking more and more disgruntled with each passing second.

It was frustrating being left out of the loop like this so badly. Of all the people gathered in the room, Jotaro was the only one who couldn't see whatever in the world this "Stand" was. At the very least, he could hear the voice that emanated from the point where the supernatural ability had to be, but that was a small consolation. However childish it may have been, the a small part of the teen wanted to see it. Badly.

But instead, Jotaro took that tinny little voice that whined and wailed about how unfair it was and punted it to the furthest corner of his mind, and steeled his expression and will. Let it never be said that Jotaro Kujo was petty.

Of course, that was when the Stand spouted something about a vampire wanting to kill his whole family in less than two years, sending the teen's train of thought careening off thd tracks and exploding. Suddenly, the realization that said vampire was actually one of the parents of his little siblings registered.

God existed, and it seemed he loved to screw with the Joestar bloodline in particular.

His eye twitched, lips curled, and before he knew it his mother was fainting into his lap like a startled goat.

"Yare yare," he muttered, awkwardly shifting her form so her slack face was visible. Haruka was almost instantly at his side, a worried expression marring her features.

"And there goes my little Holly again," sighed his grandfather. "Always been a little on the dramatic side, fainting like that. But she'll be fine," he reassured the little girl, making her relax a touch. "Probably just got overwhelmed."

Ah. Tension Jotaro hadn't realised he had winding up inside his muscles melted away from his shoulders.

Abdul (that was his name, right?) pulled out a notepad from somewhere and began dutifully scribbling down notes, probably for future use, and peered back up at the area that housed the Stand. "Thank you for this information. Is there anything else that we should know at this point in time?"

The reply came with a faint otherworldly echo to it, the Italian accent serving to make it sound even more mysterious. "For now, there are only a few other very important details that you two need to know."

Jotaro's eyes flattened. More world shattering revelations?

"And those are?" Joseph prodded.

"Well, for one thing, your daughter and her son are going to develop Stands around the same time Dio becomes active. They seem to have already started, if the way Holly can see and hear Stands is any indication."

Wait, what? "I'm going to have one too?" He had to ask.

The voice was pointed in his direction this time. "Yes. A very powerful one, too. But Holly, in the future we received, did not have the mental strength necessary to keep hers from slowly killing her."

That stopped the room cold, as if time had frozen. Joseph's eyes were bugging out, presumably at the very idea that his daughter was going to suffer such a fate.

"But that may have changed with the introduction of the twins into the family." It paused briefly. "They can be quite a handful sometimes, so it's not impossible to say that Holly may have become a bit more willful than before."

The icy atmosphere melted, and Joseph gave a visible sigh of relief. But there was still the possibility of that happening…No.

Jotaro forced that thought away, shoving it down into the recesses of his mind to dwell with the whiny jealousy.

"And...the other bit of information?" His grandfather hesitated, clearly afraid of what more news may hold.

"Congratulations, you're a father."

The old man froze, emotions whipping across his face with reckless abandon...and was that guilt mixed in there? Jotaro had no idea, but was currently mentally stuck on the idea that his Jiji had another child that he hadn't told anyone about.

"W-what are you talking about?" Joseph sputtered. "I didn't...I would NEVER…"

"Your son is a four year old named Josuke Higashikata, mother by the name of Tomoko Higashikata. He will begin to develop a Stand around the same time as Holly, so be sure to get into contact with them before then." The tone held a hint of a smirk. "You have a lot of time to make up for, Jiji."

Jotaro shot a glare at his grandfather, gaze full of daggers. So much for Jiji keeping his commitment to his wife. Yare yare, this meant he had an uncle that was _younger _than him by at least a decade…and had his 68-ish old fart of a grandfather as the kid's father.

And if the vampire Dio had stolen his great grandfather's body, then proceeded to have the twins...that meant that they were actually Jiji's aunt and uncle. Jotaro's head began to throb at the sheer magnitude of screw ups that had resulted in his family tree.

Again, God existed and the Joestar bloodline was his favorite play toy.


End file.
